Many water bottles and other hard plastic sport water bottles are made of polycarbonate (#7 on the bottom) , which may leach Bisphenol A, an estrogen-like chemical. Canada is considering a ban of products containing Bisphenol A (BPA) and a new American study links it to breast cancer and early puberty, and is particularly concerned about the effect on babies. Others have raised concerns about the effect of feminizing hormones on men, such as breast enlargement or dropping semen counts. At the same time, sport water bottles are ubiquitous and we don't want people going back to buying bottled water. What should you do? Time to nix the Nalgene? We looked at our past posts and the latest reports, and suggest the following.

7 Ways to beat BPA, in order of Importance:

1. Ditch the clear plastic baby bottles, right now. All the research that says there are problems point at the effect of the estrogen-like BPA on children as being the most significant. 2. Tin cans are often lined in plastic BPA and sit around a long time; get rid of older tin cans, particularly if they contain tomatoes and other acidic fruits. 3. Don't use your polycarbonate bottle for hot drinks. 4. Polycarbonate bottles get crazed and cracked as they get older; that increases surface area. Get rid of old ones.5. Replace your Polycarbonate bottle with a new BPA free , particularly if pregnant or pre-pubescent.6. Replace jugs where water sits around a long time, like Brita knockoffs. (Brita says they are BPA free) 7. Stop using jugged water cooler water unless is it OnTap. Their5-Gallon water bottles are BPA free or get a filter water cooler that uses city water. It is a big jug so there probably isn't much of a problem, but why are you drinking bottled water anyways?

Don't worry about polycarbonates in non-food related products like CDs and DVDs. but keep them out of babies' mouths.

The Bisphenol A Controversy

This list is based on a bit of consultation with our resident chemist, but the issue is controversial. The plastics industry says there is no problem.Energy and Commerce Chair John Dingell says “There are serious health concerns about whether Bisphenol A is safe, not only for adults, but for children and infants," and is concerned that the Food and Drug Administration's policies on BPA are "entirely dependent on two studies' that are both funded by a subsidiary of the American Chemistry Council, which represents plastic resins manufacturers."

According to Chemistry World, The FDA maintains that there is no reason to ban or restrict the use of BPA in food or drink containers because human exposure levels to the chemical from these sources is too low to have any adverse effects.

Ontap along with FastBreak Beverages is happy to offer their clients BPA Free Water Bottle options.

Imagine not drinking any water, tea, or any other liquids for the next eight hours.

Well, that’s essentially what you do while you sleep. While you sleep, your body slowly becomes dehydrated because it needs fluid to operate. Naturally, you don’t drink water while you sleep because, well, you’re sleeping!

I’m reducing my body fat from 17% to 10% for a productivity experiment, and drinking a huge glass of water right after I wake up is something both my personal trainer and dietician recommended to reduce my body fat. Especially this week, when I’m being a complete slob in the name of productivity, it’s helping my energy levels a ton.

Most sources I’ve read recommend drinking 16oz of water right after you wake up, and I’d recommend even more (depending on your weight; I drink 1-2L every morning and weigh 173 pounds). Here are five solid reasons to drink a big glass of water right when you wake up.

It fires up your metabolism. Drinking a large, cool glass of water after you wake up has been shown to fire up your metabolism by a whopping 24% for 90 minutes!1

You’re dehydrated when you wake up. You just went 7-8 hours without drinking any water! Even if your body isn’t telling you that it’s thirsty, it probably is.

Water helps your body flush out toxins. “Your kidneys do an amazing job of cleansing and ridding your body of toxins as long as your intake of fluids is adequate”, according to Kenneth Ellner, an Atlanta-based dermatologist. Getting fluids into your body right after your wake up will help your body flush out toxins first thing in the morning.2

Your brain tissue is 75% water. When you’re not properly hydrated, your brain operates on less fuel, and you can feel drained, or experience fatigue or mood fluctuations.3

You’ll eat less. One study showed that people who drink a glass of water before every meal lost 4.5 pounds over a three-month period, because “it fills up the stomach with a substance that has zero calories”, and people “feel full as a result”.4 Especially after I’ve eaten a big breakfast, drinking a lot of water in the morning has also helped me avoid the temptation of snacking before lunch.

Your body is 72% water, and you don’t have enough water in you when you wake up. Drinking a big glass of water first thing in the morning is a great way to rehydrate, and start kicking ass from the moment you wake up.

A great tip by S.J. Scott in the comments: if you’re not a fan of drinking water right after you wake up, reward yourself after you drink the water (like with tea) to make the habit stick!

Magnesium is one of the most essential minerals in our diet. Happily FastBreak Beverages offers cocoa which is one of the tastiest ways to receive more of this essential mineral into your diet. As if you needed another reason to indulge in rich dork chocolate. (aka cocoa) it's also a magnesium, in addition to antioxidants that can help lower blood pressure, improve blood flow, and boost overall health

Why We Need Magnesium

Magnesium is one of the most essential minerals in our diet. When our magnesium levels are low, our bodies will have very little energy. Anxiety, tension and heart palpitations are also signs of magnesium deficiency.

Magnesium deficiency can also contribute to many health problems and diseases such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, fibromyalgia and infertility. Below is a list of some of the symptoms of magnesium deficiency can contribute to.

Acid Reflux

Adrenal Fatigue

Anxiety

Infertility

Panic Attacks

PMS

Menstrual Cramps

High Blood Pressure

Diabetes

Fibromyalgia

Constipation

Migraines

Morning Sickness

Heart Attacks

IBS

Inflammation

Insomnia

Kidney Stones

Seizures

Let Fastbreak beverages help you stay healthy this year by ordering dark chocolate bars or hot chocolate with your coffee order. Better yet mix the hot chocolate with your coffee and WALA café mocha!! Let us know and we will always help you find what your looking for on your next office coffee, breakroom order.

On cold winter mornings, nothing will get you going like a cup of Newman's Own Special Blend Extra Bold. This drink offers a more traditional, rich coffee flavor. On top of being certified Fair Trade and organic, the thing which really makes Newman's Own K Cups great for the holiday season is that Paul Newman donates all of his royalties after taxes to educational and charitable non-profits. Talk about the spirit of giving!

At your next holiday party, try serving Green Mountain Spicy Eggnog coffee. This roast is rich with cinnamon and nutmeg flavors. It’s a nice alternative for anyone who wants the eggnog without all the calories!

After you give these flavors a try, keep going! Keurig offers its customers a dizzying array of coffee, tea, and hot cocoa K Cup flavors. With over 130 varieties available, there are plenty of other K Cup varieties to tickle your taste buds year round.

Fastbreak Beverages Chicago's top Beverage Distributor is happy to supply you with the endless array of K-Cup flavors this winter

Use water bottles or water bladders with a very wide mouth, like BPA-free Nalgene Canteens. These are available in a variety of sizes, like the 96 oz. version shown here. The wide mouth inhibits freezing at the top and freezing of the threads, so you can open the bladder to take a drink.

Turn your water bottles or bladders upside down. This will prevent them from freezing around the top, especially during the day when you’re hiking.

Chicago's OnTap along with Fastbreak Beverages provider of 5 - Gallon BPA free water bottles, water cooler company knows how important it is to keep you take along water bottles from freezing in the car or on long hikes.

I so wanted to like the single serve machines, but after owning several different brands of machine over the years, I can't recommend any of them. They are wasteful, expensive initially, expensive to buy pods for, and, worst of all, they don't make good coffee.

With a brewer machine you can control the strength, freshness and with not having to spend a lot to get a good cup. Brewers come in many shapes and sizes and temperatures to control the perfect cup for every coffee connoisseur.

FastBreak Beverages carries both K-cup machines and brewers for each individual's taste and companies needs, with a wide selection of brewers to meet everyone's needs!

roadmap that may help increase our collective understanding of caffeine, exp

The Genome Sequencing Could Be a Turning Point for Genetic Modification of Coffee

An international team of scientists say they have discovered a kind of genetic lain flavor and aroma characteristics, and help producers with breeding for quality and disease resistance. In the process, the group also raises questions about the potential for further genetic modification of coffee.

In a study published yesterday in Science, researchers say they have completed first-of-its kind genome sequencing of the Coffea canephora (Robusta) plant, introducing some surprising conclusions about coffee’s genetic history, especially as it compares to other caffeine-producing plants, such as cocoa and tea, as well as grapes.

The study was led by researchers at the French Institute of Research for Development, the French National Sequencing Center, and the University at Buffalo, with contributions from scientists at institutions in Italy, Canada, Germany, China, Spain, Indonesia, Brazil, Australia and India.

The group described the research as representing the first “high-quality draft of the genome of Coffea canephora.”

“The coffee genome helps us understand what’s exciting about coffee — other than that it wakes me up in the morning,” says Victor Albert, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Buffalo, who is one of the study’s lead authors. “By looking at which families of genes expanded in the plant, and the relationship between the genome structure ofcoffee and other species, we were able to learn about coffee’s independent pathway in evolution, including — excitingly — the story of caffeine.”

As it turns out, the story of coffee’s caffeine may be a unique one. Researchers suggest that coffee’s expanded collection N-methyltransferases, enzymes that are involved in making caffeine, seem to have developed independently, rather than coming from an ancestor common to other caffeine-containing plants such as cocoa and tea.

The researchers say this discovery may have important implications in nature, as other scientists have theorized that caffeine can help plants repel insects, stunt the growth of competing plants, and create human-like attractions to coffee from pollinators important to biodiversity and plant productivity.

Despite the political and ethical questions surrounding the genetic modification of plants and and animals that enter the marketplace as food, the scientists suggest the sum of this latest research should be a kind of call to action for other researchers working to improve coffee farming and breeding practices.

“The danger to the coffee crop should provide an incentive for all stakeholders to initiate international collaborations in genomic-assisted breeding projects and germ plasm conservation with poor, coffee-exporting countries,” Dani Zamir, a researcher at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Institute of Plant Sciences and Genetics, wrote in Science

2014 is going to be a FABULOUS year and we appreciate your business and look forward to taking care of you in 2014.

It is starting off to be a chilly year so keep those coffee, tea, hot chocolate mugs full of a nice tasty beverage. If your looking for new flavors, give us a call and we would be happy to drop off samples. :-)

In the topsy-turvy world that is Detroit, homeless people are being gifted mink coats. Animal-rights group PETA collects furs from consumers who have decided to stop wearing such items, and for the holiday season, they've decided to put their stash to good use.

As PETA's president explained, "PETA can't bring the animals who were slaughtered to make these coats back to life, but we can send a message that only people truly struggling to survive have any excuse for wearing fur." The organization also gave away items made of leather, angora and wool—all donated by wealthy shoppers across the nation who had decided to purge their closets of such items. Said one homeless shelter-dwelling attendee, "I got me a short, black mink jacket and it's beautiful. I'm blessed to have it, it's really beautiful. I did need a nice coat. I don't have nothing but an everyday coat. It was a blessing." All in all, PETA donated 100 fur coats to the shelter residents of the city. If you'd like to donate yours, there are instructions on how to do so right here.

OnTap along with FastBreak Beverages, loves to share good stories like this.

Lindsay Abrams is an assistant editor at Salon and a former writer and producer for The Atlantic's Health Channel.

"What I tell patients is, if you like coffee, go ahead and drink as much as you want and can," says Dr. Peter Martin, director of the Institute for Coffee Studies at Vanderbilt University. He's even developed a metric for monitoring your dosage: If you are having trouble sleeping, cut back on your last cup of the day. From there, he says, "If you drink that much, it's not going to do you any harm, and it might actually help you. A lot."

Officially, the American Medical Association recommends conservatively that "moderate tea or coffee drinking likely has no negative effect on health, as long as you live an otherwise healthy lifestyle." That is a lackluster endorsement in light of so much recent glowing research. Not only have most of coffee's purported ill effects been dis-proven -- the most recent review fails to link it the development of hypertension -- but we have so, so much information about its benefits. We believe they extend from preventing Alzheimer's disease to protecting the liver. What we know goes beyond small-scale studies or limited observations. The past couple of years have seen findings, that, taken together, suggest that we should embrace coffee for reasons beyond the benefits of caffeine, and that we might go so far as to consider it a nutrient.

***

The most recent findings that support coffee as a panacea will make their premiere this December in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Coffee, researchers found, appears to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.

"There have been many metabolic studies that have shown that caffeine, in the short term, increases your blood glucose levels and increases insulin resistance," Shilpa Bhupathiraju, a research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health's Department of Nutrition and the study's lead author, told me. But "those findings really didn't translate into an increased risk for diabetes long-term." During the over 20 years of follow-up, and controlling for all major lifestyle and dietary risk factors, coffee consumption, regardless of caffeine content, was associated with an 8 percent decrease in the risk of type 2 diabetes in women. In men, the reduction was 4 percent for regular coffee and 7 percent for decaf.

The findings were arrived at rigorously, relying on data from the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, two prospective studies that followed almost 80,000 women and over 40,000 men from the 1980s through 2008. Although self-reported, the data is believed to be extremely reliable because it comes from individuals who know more about health and disease than the average American (the downside, of course, is that results won't always apply to the general population -- but in this case, Bhupathuraju explained that there's no reason to believe that the biological effects seen in health professionals wouldn't be seen in everyone else).

That there were no major differences in risk reduction between regular and decaf coffee suggests there's something in it, aside from its caffeine content, that could be contributing to these observed benefits. It also demonstrates that caffeine was in no way mitigating coffee's therapeutic effects. Of course, what we choose to add to coffee can just as easily negate the benefits -- various sugar-sweetened beverages were all significantly associated with an increased risk of diabetes. A learned taste for cream and sugar (made all the more enticing when they're designed to smell like seasonal celebrations) is likely one of the reasons why we associate coffee more with decadence than prudence.

***

"Coffee and caffeine have been inexorably intertwined in our thinking, but truth is coffee contains a whole lot of other stuff with biological benefits," said Martin. And most concerns about caffeine's negative effects on the heart have been dispelled. In June, a meta-analysis of ten years of research went so far as to find an inverse association between habitual, moderate consumption and risk of heart failure. The association peaked at four cups per day, and coffee didn't stop being beneficial until subjects had increased their daily consumption to beyond ten cups.

Caffeine might also function as a pain reliever. A study from September suggested as much when its authors stumbled across caffeinated coffee as a possible confounding variable in its study of the back, neck, and shoulder pains plaguing office drones: Those who reported drinking coffee before the experiment experienced less intense pain.

The data is even more intriguing -- and more convincing -- for caffeine's effects as a salve against more existential pains. While a small study this month found that concentrated amounts of caffeine can increase positivity in the moment, last September the nurses' cohort demonstrated a neat reduction in depression rates among women that became stronger with increased consumption of caffeinated coffee.

But that caffeine is only mechanism behind coffee's health effects is supported by a small study of 554 Japanese adults from October that looked at coffee and green tea drinking habits in relation to the bundle of risk factors for coronary artery disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes known together as metabolic syndrome. Only coffee -- not tea -- was associated with reduced risk, mostly because of dramatic reductions observed in serum triglyceride levels.

So aside from caffeine, just what are you getting in a cup, or two, or six? Thousands of mostly understudied chemicals that contribute to flavor and aroma, including plant phenols, chlorogenic acids, and quinides, all of which function as antioxidants. Diterpenoids in unfiltered coffee may raise good cholesterol and lower bad cholesterol. And, okay, there's also ash which, to be fair, is no more healthful than you would think -- though it certainly isn't bad for you.

***

Some of the chemicals in coffee are known carcinogens, though as far as we know that's only been seen in rodents, not in the small levels we encounter in everyday consumption. Findings, on the other hand, have been supporting that coffee can protect against some cancers. When the Harvard School of Public Health visited the Health Professionals Follow-Up cohort in May 2011, it found that coffee's protective effects extend only to some types of prostate cancer (the most aggressive types, actually). In a separate study of the same population from this past July, they also found a reduced risk of basal cell carcinoma with increased caffeine intake.

The association was strongest for those who drank six or more cups per day.

That same high dosage is also effective in fighting against colorectal cancer, according to a prospective study from June of almost 500,000 adults conducted by the American Society for Nutrition. While the association was greatest for caffeinated varieties, decaf made a small but significant showing. A meta-analysis of 16 independent studies this past January added endometrial cancer to the group of cancers whose relative risk decreases with increased "dosage" of coffee. And in 2011, a large population of post-menopausal women in Sweden saw a "modest" reduction in breast cancerrisk with immoderate consumption of 5 or more daily cups.

Taking the benefits of coffee any further requires being patient-specific, but findings apply to a broad range of populations and conditions:

If you have fatty liver disease, a study from last December found that unspecified amounts can reduce your risk of fibrosis.

If you're on a road trip, you may respond like the 24 volunteers for an experiment from February who were subjected to two hours of simulated "monotonous highway driving," given a short break, then sent back out for two more hours. Those given a cup of coffee during the break weaved less, and showed reductions in driving speed, mental effort, and subjective sleepiness. If you're on a weight-training regimen, it can provide a mild (and legal) doping effect.

If you're trying to enhance your workout, the results of one experiment from October found that drinks containing caffeine enhances performance. And then another one from Dr. Martin in 2008: He coauthored a study of people enrolled in Alcoholics Anonymous in which there appeared to be an association between upping coffee intake and staying sober.

Nothing can be all good, and there is still information working against coffee -- in October, TheAtlantic reported on a study from the health professionals cohort that suggested a link between excessive coffee consumption and glaucoma. "The current recommendation is that if somebody's not drinking coffee, you don't tell them to start," said Bhupathiraju.

But she agrees that drinking coffee, and more of it, does appear to be beneficial. The evidence remains overwhelmingly in coffee's favor. Yes, it was observational, but the study published in May in the New England Journal of Medicine looked at hundreds of thousands of men and women and found this bottom line result: people who drank coffee lived longer than those who didn't.

And the more they drank, the longer they lived. If you're into that sort of thing.

FastBreak Beverages along with OnTap is happy to be your provider of all

you coffee needs with many styles, flavors and roasters to choose from!

COMBINE matcha with water in medium, heat-proof glass; stir until dissolved. Stir in Coffee-mate. Top with steamed milk, holding back foam with a spoon. Top with milk foam and a dusting of matcha, if desired.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz wants America to wake up from partisan gridlock, so he's offering free coffee at the chain Friday for customers who buy coffee for each other, and he's gathering petition signatures demanding politicians to "come together" to resolve the government shutdown.

The petition announced Friday on the company's website said Starbucks wants to make its customers voices heard in Washington. Print versions of the petitions are also available in Friday editions of USA Today, The New York Times and The Washington Post. Users can also "like" the petition's Facebook post, which will count as a signature.

"To our leaders in Washington, D.C., now's the time to come together to:

1. Reopen our government to serve the people.

2. Pay our debts on time to avoid another financial crisis.

3. Pass a bipartisan and comprehensive long-term budget deal by the end of the year."

The company announced its free coffee promotion on Wednesday, which continues through Oct. 11, as an example of cooperation for Washington politicians, proving the uniting power of coffee.

[MILLIGAN: $4 Coffee Won’t Solve the Shutdown]

"A customer buys the next person in line their favorite beverage—not as an act of charity or thanks—but an acknowledgement of commonality and humanity," the company said. "We're hoping this small motivation will encourage you to be the spark of connection that helps bring us all a little closer at a time when showing our unity is so important."

Schultz took a political stand in September when he requested that gun owners no longer bring firearms into the coffee shops or outdoor seating areas, even in states with open carry laws allowing gun owners to carry weapons in public.

Hungover? New research suggests you may want to reach for a can of Sprite.

While drinking too much alcohol could certainly lead to a hangover, the booze itself isn't the culprit -- it's how it's broken down. The authors point out that when the liver processes alcohol (also known as ethanol) it creates several chemical byproducts. One is called acetaldehyde, which causes the feelings of a hangover. Acetaldehyde eventually turns into acetate, which does not cause hangover symptoms and can provide some benefits like extra energy.

The Mayo Clinic cites additional reasons that alcohol can cause hangovers, including the beverage's ability to cause your body to produce more urine -- which in turn makes you dehydrated -- and to trigger an inflammatory response from your immune system. Alcohol is also known to irritate the lining of your stomach, cause blood sugar to fall and expand blood vessels, leading to headaches. It also makes people sleepy and reduces their quality of sleep. There's also the possibility that ingredients in alcohol that give it flavor called congeners, also add to that hangover.

The researchers focused on how to stop acetaldehyde from lingering in the body for too long. They believed that if they manipulated alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), an enzyme that turns ethanol into acetaldehyde, and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH, which turns acetaldehyde into acetate), they could shorten the time it took acetaldehyde to turn into acetate, essentially cutting the time the person was hungover.

Hangover "cures"

The researchers tested 57 different beverages including Huo ma ren (a hemp-seed based beverage), various teas and different carbonated drinks.

Herbal teas were observed to slow down the process. However, Sprite and soda water were shown to speed up ALDH activity, which would theoretically curb the hangover.

Edzard Ernst, a medical expert at the University of Exeter in the U.K., told Chemistry World that the study was intriguing, but cautioned that people shouldn't start stocking up on Sprite if they are going out on the town.

"These results are a reminder that herbal and other supplements can have pharmacological activities that can both harm and benefit our health," Ernst said.

This isn't the first scientific analysis of a hangover cure reported this year. Dr. Alyson E. Mitchell, a food chemist at the University of California at Davis, looked closely at the New Orleans-based hangover cure, Yak-a-mein soup. She found, for example, eggs in the soup help clear acetaldehyde from the body.

By Sara CourterYou know you should avoid it, you've been told it's in plastic and the lining of canned foods .... but what is BPA, and why, exactly do we want to avoid it?

BPA is Bisphenol A, a chemical used abundantly in plastics, packaging, and epoxy resins as a hardener. It's used in many plastics such as Ziploc bags, water bottles, baby bottles, and Tupperware containers. It also lines canned food, is used in some dental sealants, and is found in the coating of some metal equipment, including medical tools.

The problem is that BPA doesn't stay where it's put. It leeches into our food, drinks and bodies, contaminating our precious little temple with this chemical.

BPA is said to cause cancer, increase risk of heart related disease, disrupt hormones, and prove toxic and harmful to brain development in infants and children.

Many canned food manufacturers are now offering cans with "BPA free lining," water bottles are made BPA free and Ziploc bags are being produced without BPA. Being mindful of your exposure to these chemicals will not only reduce our toxic load, it will also allow you to vote with your dollar.

In refusing to buy products containing BPA, you protect your body and make a statement by letting the chemical-laden (albeit more affordable) junk sit on the shelf. By resolving to do this, and banding together, it's possible to improve the norm.

Some tips to reduce your exposure to BPA:

1. Avoid the heat.

Make sure not to microwave in plastic or leave your plastic water bottles in full sunlight, this is an invitation for BPA to leech into your liquid and food over time.

2. Go glass.

Invest in some glassware to store your food in and get yourself a stainless steel water bottle.

3. Look for "BPA free" labels, because even bottle lids can have BPA coating.

The National Institute of Health Sciences also suggests using the tactic of reading recycle codes in an effort to avoid BPA, saying, "Some, but not all, plastics that are marked with recycle codes 3 or 7 [on the bottom of the container] may be made with BPA."

If you need any more reason to avoid BPA, NIH lists some great websites and sources. We must be our own educators and continue to forge ahead as pioneers of the wellness revolution.

We must create our own future…I envision a future of longevity, detoxification and vitality. Are you with me?

OnTap a division of FastBreak Beverages is proud to provide BPA free 5 Gallon water bottles for all of it's bottled water filtration systems.

According to a recent study by Le Meridien Hotels and Resorts, 78 percent of global coffee drinkers would rather give up alcohol, social media or sex with their spouse for a year than forfeit their morning caffeine fix.

Hold the sugar, indeed: A new study released by Le Meridien Hotels and Resorts, which is looking to expand its guests' coffee choices, has revealed that coffee can be more desirable than morning sex.

According to the telephone poll, which surveyed 7,455 coffee drinkers from six different countries, including the United States, Dubai, China, France, Germany and India, 53 percent of those surveyed preferred waking up to a hot cuppa over fornication.

Other time-consuming vices, such as booze and Facebook, also fell behind java on the list of priorities, with 78 percent of global coffee drinkers responding that they "would rather give up alcohol, social media or even sex with their spouse for a year" rather than forfeit their morning caffeine fix.

Courtesy Mattsun

Amazing Art in Latte Foam

But when not forced to choose between social media surfing and coffee, a high number of respondents acknowledged that they often browse their feeds while enjoying their a.m. brew.

"The global study found that a majority of respondents (64 percent) access social media while having coffee and traveling, all at the same time," stated the survey.

Sometimes one habit even bleeds into the other, with 53 percent of those surveyed stating that if they were going to post a beverage on their social media accounts while traveling, it would be coffee.

In response to the overwhelming popularity of coffee among travelers surveyed, Le Meridien Hotels and Resorts recently introduced three new fall coffee beverages to its Latitude Bar menu at all properties: Onda al Cioccolato, Latte Macchiato and Marocchino Caldo.

All three are chocolate-infused concoctions. So if you're among those eschewing a morning makeout session, you can still start the day with something sweet.

One of the greatest subcultures to exist, especially on the internet, are the perpetual coffee drinkers. Hipsters have tried to overtake it with Instagrams of obscure coffee shops and hashtags of drinks you’ve never heard of, but nothing a flannel-clad indie musician can do could take away from the experience that is a quality espresso. Coffee is a universal truth. It is your life sustaining force. These are the ways you know that you are 90% coffee and 10% on your way to get another cup.

1. You saw the headline on this article and knew it would be the most profound thing you read all day (true).

2. You post and reblog photos of mugs of coffee, usually when they’re next to books. Especially when they’re the beautiful espressos with hearts made out of foam.

3. You consider coffee an art form and your cabinet of mugs and thermos could be on display in a museum, not to mention you have different cups for different occasions and moods because it’s a crucial element of the experience.

4. You are genuinely inspired by the Starbucks’ “The Way I See It” paragraph on the back of the hot cups.

5. You have an incredibly specific order that just rolls off your tongue.

6. One of the greatest internal battles you have ever experienced was (or is) whether or not to buy a Keurig. On one hand, they’re fantastic, but on the other… you drink coffee by the pot. Not exactly a financially sound decision to brew by the very tiny, expensive, not eco-friendly cup.

7. You celebrated the most hallowed holiday there is: National Coffee Day.

8. Starbucks is your homeland and you don’t even care that that fact may wane on your coffee-taste-credibility because they were the first and for many of us, the only. Until you go to college and drink Dunkin’ because well, let’s just be honest here.

9. You’re confused by people who turn to drugs to give them hours of uncontrollable stimulation and energy like, have you tried upwards of four cups of coffee?

10. Innovation will mean something to you the day you see a coffee-IV available in drug stores.

11. You are also waiting for the day that Starbucks delivers (or any company really, let’s not get picky here). Because if there’s anything greater than coffee, it would be not having to move to get it.

12. You actually have withdrawal symptoms if you don’t have it for a day which is a bit unnerving but somehow still fills you with pride that you’ve been so dedicated that your body can’t function without it. A lot like true love, right?

13. Creamer choices and styles of brew are not a joke, like this isn’t just an “anything goes” kind of situation.

14. You like your coffee like you like your wine. Cheap and strong. (No? Just me?)

15. Your ideal date is to meet and talk over coffee, because even if you don’t end up liking the person, you still got coffee. Which is probably more fulfilling than a relationship anyway.

16. You know what sexy means, and it’s a Barista with the ingredients to make their shit at home.

17. The things you’d say thank you for in an acceptance speech would be your parent’s support, the motivation your haters give you, God, and coffee. And sometimes you sincerely wonder why people don’t give coffee the credit it deserves. You did not win a Nobel Peace Prize without coffee-fueled-all-night-writing benders, like, come on. Real talk: I’m definitely dedicating my next book to coffee.

18. You don’t care how many times you’ll be made fun of but it’s Pumpkin Spice Latte season and anybody who can’t appreciate that is a sad excuse for a human. And while we’re at it, Mocha Mint is up next and that’s probably your favorite part of the holiday season.

19. If you haven’t at least Tweeted or Instagrammed a photo of your coffee, you have definitely posted something along the lines of “reading in bed with a great cup of coffee #bestday #blessed #coffee #love”

20. There’s only one thing better than coffee, and it’s WiFi, both of which the masterminds of millennial culture have combined to create the ultimate habitat. Of where I am writing this. Right now. TC Mark

Why should taxpayers foot the bill for major corporations' increasingly wasteful use of plastics?

BY ELIZABETH ROYTE

Over the past 11 years, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has helped plant hundreds of thousands of trees in New York City, reduced indoor air pollution by banning smoking in restaurants and bars, and created more than 350 miles of bike lanes in the five boroughs—all boons to the environment. But he’s never done all that much to reduce the quantity of waste that the city sends to landfills. Until this past spring, that is, when the outgoing mayor (he steps down on January 1) announced a major expansion of the types of plastics New Yorkers can toss into their recycling bins. Yesterday it was only narrow-necked bottles; today it’s any rigid plastics, including clamshell-type containers, clothes hangers, even toys. Hallelujah.

Compared with other American metropolises, New York’s recycling rate has been pretty anemic. At last check, the city was recovering only 15 percent of all the potentially recyclable material in its waste stream; the national average is 34.7 percent. That’s why so many of us were pleased by the mayor’s announcement. With a stroke of the pen, Bloomberg assured that an additional 50,000 tons of plastics would be delivered to recycling companies annually. Moreover, the simplicity of the city’s larger recycling message—“Just throw everything into the bin”—seemed likely to foster a greater degree of compliance, netting plastics processors even more of the materials they covet most: those narrow-necked bottles that are typically made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or high-density polyethylene (HDPE).

But then my not-so-inner skeptic started to pipe up. Wasn’t it possible, I wondered, that this expansion would encourage even more consumption of single-use throwaway plastics? Would consumers who might once have felt a guilty pang when tipping their takeout containers into the trash now feel that by recycling those containers, they were somehow solving our plastics problem? Plastic, after all, is made out of nonrenewable resources—oil and natural gas—extracted at high cost to human and environmental health. Globally, the plastics packaging industry grew an average of 7.2 percent a year between 2001 and 2010, with most of that growth taking place in developing nations.

COCONUT water, thanks to its super powers of hydration and massive celebrity following, has been top dog of the health drinks for a while now.

But hot on its heels is an unlikely competitor — aloe vera juice, and it’s got health experts touting it the next big thing in clean eating.

The latest “miracle drink” to hit the shelves is said to be mineral-rich, nutrient-packed and cholesterol-lowering. It claims to aid weight loss, digestion, immune function, and even ease general discomfort.

Just like super food favourites chia seeds and seaweed, aloe vera is said to boost the body’s natural ability to resist illness and also eliminates toxins.

“Aloe Vera is amazing if you have any suggestive discomfort. It is very soothing for the internals and helps beat the bloat”, nutritionist Madeleine Shaw tells Daily Mail.

The aloe vera plant contains over 200 active components including vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes, polysaccharide, and fatty acids and has been used therapeutically for over 5000 years as a herbal medicine.

The popular plant juice has certainly caught the attention of fitness buffs is more frequently being found on the shelves of health food stores.

Also OnTap a division of Fastbreak Beverages can help deliver healthy beverages right to your door along with BPA free 5 gallon bottle water jugs with handles for ease of movement!

Coffee: It’s a staple on any college campus. With late nights of studying–or partying–followed by early morning classes and tests, coeds across America rely upon coffee’s caffeine to make it through the best four years of their lives.

Recognizing this, earlier this week Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc.–the makers of the Keurig brewing system–partnered with IMG College to become the Official Coffee/Tea System of 25 university athletic programs across the country. The partnership marks Green Mountain Coffee Roasters’ largest sports marketing initiative to date.

Introduced in 1998, the Keurig brewing system has since become the leading single cup brewing system in North America. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters plans to further Keurig’s lead in that market by infiltrating college campuses with its products.

Women's College Sports Apparel Sales See Triple-Digit Growth

Alicia JessopAlicia Jessop

Contributor

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters identified IMG College as the conduit necessary to get its products into the hands of as many collegians as possible. Through partnerships with nearly 80 BCS-level athletic departments, IMG College is in the unique position to reach a large number of the 27 million Americans between the ages of 18 to 24 that identify themselves as college sports fans. “There is a tremendous opportunity to build brewing habits in this growing population. . . By reaching students in the dorm, Keurig is able to help shape and build the next generation of our consumer base by establishing the Keurig system as an essential part of the college experience,” said Keurig’s vice president of core systems, Dwight Brown.

IMG College echoed the market growth that the Keurig brewing system can see by entering into the partnership. “Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and Keurig are going through a dynamic change and evolution. They are trying to build the next generation of coffee consumers who will brew and consume coffee one cup at a time, versus one pot at a time. They want to reach that really hard to reach demographic of 18-to-24-year-olds. We illustrated the unique proposition we’ve built here at IMG College, which is an aggregation of nearly 80 BCS-level schools, through which we can deliver a turnkey marketing connections at national, local and hyper-local levels,” said IMG College’s senior vice president of U.S. business development, Andrew Judelson.

What is so attractive about the college-aged market? Simply put: Spending power. Studies indicate that college students have $117 billion in annual discretionary spending. “Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is keenly interested in reaching college students for a number of reasons. There are 11.2 million undergraduate students in the United States, aged 18-24, and 57 percent of young adults ages 18-24, drink coffee. Keurig is building the next generation of our consumer base by establishing the Keurig system as an essential part of not only the college experience, but in everyday life,” Brown explained.

By partnering with IMG College, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is put in the unique position to not only reach this target audience, but to begin educating college sports fans of all ages about its products. With its Keurig machines headed to university athletic departments at campuses like UCLA, Arizona, Florida, Nebraska and Texas, the company’s products will be introduced to a wide-spectrum of beverage consumers. “The unique thing about the college proposition, is that you have a built-in, new, loyal fan base every year of 10 to 12 million people called college freshmen. Our partners have a strategy to target the student fan, but also the ability to target an older demographic of fans and alumnus of the school,” explained Judelson.

IMG College plans to assist Green Mountain Coffee Roasters in its endeavors by launching carefully tailored and strategic activation plans across the 25 campuses. It is expected that Keurig will design customized Keurig system machines for 11 of the 25 university partners. Additionally, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters will head to college football games this fall and basketball games in the winter to do experiential marketing through sampling opportunities. IMG College also plans on installing signage in various university facilities to advertise the products. A digital component exists in the structure of the deal, through IMG College’s new online digital media platform, Campus Insiders.

What IMG College found in Green Mountain Coffee Roasters was a “white space”–an untapped partnership opportunity in the world of college sports in the realm of the coffee and tea beverage industry. Going forward, it will be interesting to see whether IMG College struck gold by locating the white space and responding to it by partnering with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. In the alternative, the possibility exists that the white space existed in the market for a reason, and college sports fans cannot be swayed to buy coffee beverages or brewing systems through strategic partnerships. Given, though, the late nights of college students, it’s likely that the former is true, and IMG College and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters have struck gold with this partnership.

In her results, Dr Durvasula found that those with a penchant for black coffee are typically purist, no-nonsense individuals with a tendency to prefer the simple life, although they could also be abrupt, impatient and even averse to change.

In contrast, latte drinkers tended to be intent on pleasing others, but could also show slightly more neurotic attributes.

'Perfectionist' cappuccino drinkers are perhaps the most high-demand personality, with Dr Durvasula's research finding them to be obsessive and controlling, overly sensitive, and health-conscious.

Instant coffee drinkers seemed to display more laid-back characteristics in the findings of her study however. Personality traits associated with this group included a predisposition to procrastinate and put off things that need doing.

Finally, those who preferred their coffee fix cold and sweet were considered socially bold 'trend-setters' who could be reckless on occasion.

Floyd Mayweather, arguably one of the greatest American boxers of all time (44-0, 26 KOs), is known for being meticulous in and out of the ring.

That attention to detail also apparently extends to his coffee consumption. In a recent video captured by Fight Hub TV leading up to his fight with Mexico’s undefeated challenger Canelo Alvarez Saturday, Sept. 16, Mayweather is caught putting a verbal beatdown on one of the members of his entourage who messed up the champ’s coffee order.

“Hell no, you put honey in tea, not coffee!” Mayweather exclaims in front of a crowd of reporters.

All eyes were on the Columbus Drive Bridge over the Chicago River in Chicago at 1 p.m. this Thursday, August 8, when 60,000 yellow rubber ducks pour into the water from a "duck truck" backed up to the edge of the bridge. The 8th Annual Windy City Rubber Ducky Derby to benefit Special Olympics Illinois enthralls people of all ages who watch the ducks "race" to the finish with a little help from a tugboat's spray of water and a boom in the river.

Chicago has yet another new micro roastery and retailer, with the opening of Ready Coffeein Wicker Park last week.

Ready Coffee is a project of restaurateur John Grbac, who ran Jimo’s restaurant in Wicker Park in the 1990s, at the birth of the north side neighborhood’s renaissance as a restaurant and retail destination.

Working with roastmaster Greg Striver, Ready is house-roasting Fair Trade-, Organic- and Rainforest Alliance-certified beans, expressing a particular commitment to environmental sustainability, including a soft spot for polar bears. Here’s more from the Ready team:

We’re certainly not the only coffee company offering delicious coffees. But we are also proud of our green initiatives: We have a commitment to polar bears; they are one of the first animals to be effected by climate change; we ask ourselves with every move that we make, are we effecting the sea ice at all with this decisions? We are carful to select environmentally safe supply chains, we use recycled materials, refurbished equipment, and environmentally safe disposables in our stores; all this combined with Midwest friendliness.

With a custom-designed, penny-covered coffee bar and a wicker Harley Davidson, Ready is open at 1562 N. Milwaukee.

The Nestle Star Wars Coffee Machines come in Darth Vader with the 'Dark Set' and 'Light Set' which features C3PO. The availability is very limited and only in Japan for $120 a piece (more if you buy the set below). Why don't we have more themed coffee makers here in the US? We'd take a HALO themed coffee maker over a HALO themed Xbox 360 any day. Well - maybe not.

If you are interested Keurig & K-Cups Single service coffee Machines, FastBreak Beverages offers the Keurig & K-Cups Single service coffee Machines for your office!

Tap water and bottled water are generally comparable in terms of safety. So the choice of tap or bottled is mostly a matter of personal preference.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversees bottled water, while the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates tap water. However, they use similar standards for ensuring safety.

The EPA mandates that water utilities provide annual quality reports to customers. These customer confidence reports provide information such as source (river, lake, aquifer), contaminant levels and potential health effects. However, the EPA doesn't regulate private wells. So if your tap water comes from a private well you should test your water every year for contaminants, more frequently if needed.

The FDA has good manufacturing practices specifically for bottled water. They require bottled water producers to:

Process, bottle, hold and transport bottled water under sanitary conditions Protect water sources from bacteria, chemicals and other contaminants Use quality control processes to ensure the bacteriological and chemical safety of the water Sample and test both source water and the final product for contaminants

It's important to note that some people are more vulnerable to getting sick from contaminants in drinking water. You may be in this group if you are undergoing chemotherapy, living with HIV/AIDS or have received a transplant. Pregnant women, the elderly and children also may be at greater risk. Talk with your doctor about whether you should take additional precautions, such as boiling tap water or drinking bottled water.

Providing Chicagoans with BPA free 5-Gallon water bottles, BPA free K-Cups, a variety of coffee beans, ground coffee, teas, beverages, juices and snacks. Same day or next day delivery, no contracts, no delivery fees… Now you can see whywe have been Chicago’s choice for over 20 years and continue to be!

Fastbreak Beverages offers all you need to enjoy the variety of tasty iced coffee drinks. We have provided a few recipes below. Try them with Dunkin Donuts Coffee, Starbucks, Donut House, White Bear, Maxwell House, Folgers or K Cups. FastBreak Beverages always suggest starting with filtered water from a water cooler or some type of filter. This is best for brewing the perfect cup.

Add all ingredients in the blender, except the garnishes. Blend until smooth. Finish by swirling a little chocolate syrup in your cup, pour in your drink, top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cocoa powder.

First...You have to make your coffee concentrate.(This is the only part of the process that takes some time)Don't worry, the gallon of coffee concentrate you end up with will make enough to last you for a month in the fridge!

You do NOT want to brew a normal pot of coffee for your iced coffee.You want to cold-brew it.This leaves you with a smooth, acid-free coffee base that we all love for a refreshing cold drink.

Iced Coffee Concentrate.

Ingredients-

1 gallon water (I buy a gallon of drinking water) 1 lb bag of your favorite rich coffee (course ground if ya can get it) Coffee filters or several layers of cheesecloth a fine mesh strainer. a large bowl pitcher (big enough to hold a gallon) Directions-

Pour gallon of water into your large bowl. Dump the entire bag of coffee into the water/bowl. Stir to make sure all grounds are saturated with water. Walk away, for 12 hours or overnight. line a mesh strainer with a coffee filter or several layers of cheese-cloth, set the strainer on top of your pitcher. Pour (or ladle) your coffee mixture into the strainer. (this part takes awhile... I often had to walk away while it filtered into the pitcher) If using coffee filters, you might have to replace them several times during the filtering process. Once all the coffee concentrate has been filtered, stick it in the fridge (it will last for a month!)

4. If You Love Coffee Ice Cream but Don’t Love Coffee

by: How Sweet it Is

Homemade Iced Mocha

serves 1

5 ounces brewed coffee, cold

1/2 cup milk

1 tablespoon heavy cream

2 tablespoons chocolate syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon brown sugar, not packed

for mocha sugar:

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon instant coffee powder

1 teaspoon cocoa powder

for homemade whipped cream:

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon sugar

Brew coffee and let cool – this can work with leftover morning coffee, or I suggest making some at night and once it cools, putting it in the fridge overnight. However you want to do it, as long as you have cold coffee, you are set!

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or using a bowl and an electric hand mixer), add heavy cream and sugar. Beat until peaks form and you have the consistency of whipped cream – about 6 minutes.

On a shallow plate, combine sugar, coffee powder and cocoa and mix. Rim the edge of your glass with water then dip the edge in the mocha sugar mix to coat. Fill the bottom of your glass with one tablespoon of chocolate syrup, then add ice cubes. Pour in coffee, then milk, then vanilla, then heavy cream, then the loose brown sugar. Mix well with a spoon.

Add 1-2 tablespoons of whipped cream on top and another tablespoon of chocolate syrup. Drink up!P.S. You can put ice cream in your iced mocha too. Shhhh. You didn’t hear it from me.

Top with whipped cream if desired, and enjoy! If it looks too thick, there should be room for a little bit more milk. Stir and pack down what you have now, and add milk to the brim of cup. Blend for five seconds more.

3 Suspect Plastics to Avoid in Baby Bottles, Water Bottles, And More...After reading this article, FastBreak Beverages is proud to say that all of our 5 gallon water bottles are BPA FREE... See why that is so important below... Chicago's Choice for Water Cooler, Water Bottle, Coffee and Break Room Delivery Service...

A wide range of plastic resins that don't fit into the other six categories are lumped into number 7. Some are quite safe, but the ones to worry about are the hard polycarbonate varieties, as found in various drinking containers (like Nalgene bottles) and rigid plastic baby bottles.

Why? Studies have shown polycarbonate can leach bisphenol A, a potential hormone disruptor, into liquids. According to Trasande, no level of bisphenol A exposure is known to be truly safe, and in August a government panel expressed 'some concern' that the ingredient causes neural and behavioral problems in children.

Why not play it safe and swap out those hard plastic baby and water bottles for Number 1, 5 or corn-based plastics, or even shatter-resistant glass?

Read more: Plastic Bottles That Are Not Safe - Toxins in Water Bottles, Baby Bottles - The Daily GreenFollow us: @the_daily_green on Twitter | thedailygreen on FacebookVisit us at TheDailyGreen.com

If your workout needs a little boost, having caffeine before you exercise can be just what you need. Studies have shown that ingesting caffeine before a workout increases your endurance, can help ease postexercise muscle soreness, and can help sedentary people exercise more vigorously. While caffeinated gels, drinks, and chews help give a much-needed boost during endurance races, you should play it safe when it comes to your caffeinated workout. Stay away from energy drinks, and opt for naturally caffeinated options with these tips.Have a shot: An espresso shot before a workout is convenient, since it won't weigh you down and can be drunk quickly if you're on your way to the gym. Take the shot, which on average contains about 75 milligrams of caffeine, about 30 minutes before your workout to reap the effects of the caffeine during your workout.

Take a coffee break: If you are going to drink a full cup of coffee or tea before you exercise, make sure that you drink it about an hour before so you won't be full of liquid when you work out. Note that a 16-ounce cup of Starbucks coffee contains 330 milligrams of caffeine, so don't drink a full cup before an evening workout if caffeine normally keeps you awake.

Look for caffeinated snacks: A recent study found that eating a small piece of dark chocolate before a workout can help with endurance because it contains a flavonoid that may help muscles resist fatigue. While a small piece of dark chocolate may not contain that much caffeine, the combination of carbs, caffeine, and flavonoids may help give you a small boost. For a bigger caffeinated effect, look for energy gels and chews that contain caffeine.

No matter what your caffeine strategy, if you are training for a race and use caffeine to help your workouts, endurance running and nutrition coach Matt Fitzgerald recommends in his book The New Rules of Marathon and Half Marathon Training to go on a caffeine fast a week or two before your big day. Since your body acclimates to the effects of caffeine, taking a weeklong break will ensure that you feel the greatest effects during your race. You should also take care to not go over the recommended daily intake of 300 milligrams.

There’s a Sailor Moon in my Coffee! Photos and Tips From a Japanese Manga Latte Artis

There’s a Sailor Moon in my Coffee! Photos and Tips From a Japanese Manga Latte ArtistLatte art, created with a skilled pour of steamed milk and some clever manoeuvres, has been mesmerising coffee lovers for well over a decade. While the most common creations are heart and leaf designs in different shades of mocha, here in Japan we’ve spotted 10 hot, candy-coloured manga characters, of the Sailor Moon variety! We fell in love with these designs and needed to know how the pretty guardians and their pals came to life in coffee form. And, more importantly, whether it’s something we can do at home. Mouths watering and hearts fluttering, we asked the artist directly to find out.

The cute coffee tops below are the work of Japanese Twitter user “Sugi”. Amazingly, she only took up the craft of latte art last April. She believes a little perserverance and a creative eye is all it takes to recreate your favourite characters on a cup of Joe.

Practice Makes Perfect

Working at the pace of two to three cups every day, Sugi’s put her best into each one and made up to 800 cups so far. She creates the Sailor Moon characters free-hand with toothpicks, using chocolate sauce for the dark areas and cocktail syrups for the other colours. She says the key to practising is to treat each one like the real deal, seeing it through to completion no matter how hard it gets!

Learn From Your Mistakes

Sugi says that “drawing” on coffee is the same as drawing a regular picture on paper. She recommends looking at the subject and drawing it as you go. If you make a mistake, it’s best to look at it and figure out why you went wrong so you can improve for next time.

Ask Latte Artists For Advice

If you do give it a try but hit some hurdles, Sugi recommends reaching out to people doing latte art on Twitter. She says there’s a great community of artists there who are happy to help and offer advice. It sounds like a great way to get your coffee fix and make friends too!

Check out Sugi’s other beautiful works of art on her public Twitter profile. It’s definitely worth a look!

What's the difference between distilled water, spring water and purified water?

Office Water Delivery service: OnTap along with FastBreak Beverages is proud to provide all options to it customers and hopes this blog can help clarify the different water options provided.

All bottled water types are sometimes referred to as "spring water" but that's not really accurate. The origin and processing of different types of bottled water actually make them quite different in content and taste. In fact, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-the federal agency that regulates all types of bottled water-has established guidelines called standards of identity that classify bottled water into several different water types:

Spring Water: Ah, the ever-popular "spring water" is defined as bottled water derived from an underground formation from which water flows naturally to the surface of the earth. To qualify as spring water, it must be collected only at the spring or through a borehole tapping the underground formation feeding the spring. If the collection process uses some type of an external force, the water must be from the same stratum as the spring and must retain the quality and all of the same physical properties of water that flows naturally from a spring to the surface.

Purified Water: This is a type of drinking water that has been treated with processes such as distillation, deionization or reverse osmosis (we'll get to those terms later). Basically, this just means that the bacteria and dissolved solids have been removed from the water by some process, making it "purified." This type of bottled water is usually labeled as purified drinking water but can also be labeled for the specific process used to produce it, for example, reverse osmosis drinking water or distilled drinking water. Many bottled water brands are actually purified drinking water.

Mineral Water: Okay, ready for some science? Mineral water contains not less than 250 parts per million total dissolved solids and is defined by its constant level and relative proportions of mineral and trace elements at the point of emergence from the source. No minerals can be added to the water.

Sparkling Bottled Water:Yes, the fizzy kind. But what makes it fizzy? This type of water contains the same amount of carbon dioxide that it had when it emerged from its source. Sparkling bottled waters may be labeled as sparkling drinking water, sparkling mineral water, sparkling spring water, etc.

Artesian Water/Artesian Well Water: Ready for some more science? Artesian water comes from a well that taps a confined aquifer-a water-bearing underground layer of rock or sand-in which the water level is above the top of the aquifer.

Municipal/Tap Water: Of course, you know it's the type of water piped right into your home. While tap water isn't regulated by the FDA (but we thought it should be included here), it must meet the strict standards of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Municipal tap water is generally of excellent quality, however, many people prefer the taste and enjoy the convenience of bottled water, which, in most cases, undergoes additional processing and often retains the pleasant characteristics of its natural source.

Bottled Water Regulation: The FDA is responsible for the food and pharmaceutical industries, two industries where safety and quality are of paramount importance. Yes, the FDA is full of serious customers. Therefore, bottled water is one of the most extensively regulated packaged-food products. The bottled water industry receives government oversight from federal and state agencies across the country, providing consumers with multiple layers of safety assurance - from the finished water product back to the source. Bottled water is required to be tested for the same parameters as tap water, but the standards are, in some cases, stricter than for tap water. State governments inspect and certify the "sources" of spring water, meaning that samples have been analyzed and found to be of a safe and sanitary quality according to regulation.

For answers to all your office coffee questions, please contact OnTap at 847-498--4912

When it comes to office coffee service in Chicago and surronding area, FastBreak Beverages Service is known for more than just our great service and vast product selection. We’re also known for our commitment to environmental sustainability.

Here are three tips for going green on your next coffee break:

1. Use Coffee Grounds For CompostPlace an empty coffee can or other receptacle by your office coffee machine to collect used grounds. Instead of throwing the old grounds out, add them to your compost pile so they can be used for fertilizer, whether at home or at the office.

3. Choose Fair Trade CoffeePurchase fair trade coffee for the office. This helps to support environmentally sustainable practices that reduce the use of harmful toxins, pesticides and chemical additives.

Although this winter has been mild, you can still warm up with one of our many hot beverage options, such as coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. In the office, tea is a great healthy alternative to coffee, and can be enjoyed both hot and cold.

Tea has long been considered the healthiest beverage you can drink. Studies have shown that tea consumption helps fight heart disease, boosts the immune system, fights harmful illnesses, and supplies the body with antioxidants. All tea is not created equal, so here is a general guide to the three most popular types of tea:

· Black tea:Tea leaves have undergone total oxidation, which gives them a strong flavor. The health benefits of black tea include antioxidants and can reverse some symptoms of coronary artery disease.

· Oolong tea: Tea leaves have undergone partial oxidation, which gives them a sweet and fruity flavor or a woody and thick flavor, depending on where the leaves are grown. Health benefits for oolong tea are similar to those of green tea, though the oxidation reduces some of its benefits.

· Green tea:Tea leaves have undergone minimal oxidation during processing, which gives them a mellower, sweeter flavor compared to black tea. It also has many health benefits such as antioxidants, high vitamin and mineral content, and boosts

metabolic rate.

We offer the finest selection of premium and flavored teas, including Bigelow, Tazo, Celestial Seasonings, Lipton brands. Premium teas are also available for your single-cup brewing machine such as Keurig.

While flipping through the September 2012 issue of Muscle & Fitness Magazine, we found this little piece that just reinforces the idea that FastBreak Beverages truly provides the stuff that keeps you going...

from Muscle & Fitness Magazine (September 2012)We often recommend coffee for its natural caffeine and fat-burning properties, but a new study shows a morning cup of joe has serious heart health benefits, too. Researchers found that two eight-ounce servings of coffee per day can reduce the risk of heart failure by 11%, while other studies show that drinking coffee can lower the risk of type-2 diabetes. Another surprising discovery is that moderate coffee consumption has actually been shown to protect against high blood pressure, so drink up!

Did you know that more than 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed everyday, worldwide?

Good Choice For A Sleek Designed Counter Top Water Cooler To Save Room!

Hot N' Cold Countertop Water Cooler

Hot 'N Cold Point-of-Use Water Cooler has both water heating and cooling capabilities and a contemporary look that guarantees quality and reliability. With the push of a button, the cooler dispenses either hot or cold water and illuminates the dispensing area with a blue LED spotlight. Installation is easy with a push-fit 1/4 inch water line connection and the side mounted handles make transporting the unit simple for anyone. The unit's stylish design and compact size make it great for any home or office counter top.

Where a bottle normally enters the top of a cooler, a float assembly is fitted. A hose coming directly from your water source, which can be tap water, filtered water or RO water, is connected to the back of the float assembly, then goes down the back of the cooler and out of sight. When water is drawn from the cooler, the float assembly allows water to flow back into the cooler until full, thereby providing a continuous source of water without bottle storage or spilled water.

Float System: The dual mechanical floats include a safety lockout and do not require electricity to operate

Stainless Steel Tanks: Both the cold water reservoir and the hot water tank are made of type 300 series stainless steel for superior quality and sanitation purposes

Cold Water Refrigeration Unit: The internal compressor is tightly sealed and equipped with an automatic overload protector

One Piece Hot Water Tank: The 500 watt heating element is easy to replace or service without breaking soldered refrigeration connections

do NOT contain BPA (which is true and has been confirmed by Keurig/Green Mountain) This should be true for all brand of K-Cups.

First a quick review:

1) The K-Cup package is made up of three main elements -- the cup itself, a layer of filter paper and an aluminum foil top.

2) The cups themselves aren’t recyclable, yet, but they’re working on it.

3) Technically speaking, the plastic in the cups is #7 – meaning it’s a mix of plastics (as opposed to just one kind of plastic). This is what makes it a problem for recycling. It’s also what makes it bullet proof in terms of protecting and preserving the coffee inside.

4) The K-Cups are nitrogen-flushed, sealed for freshness, and impermeable to oxygen, moisture and light.

Here are some of the questions that come to the Call Center and to the Coffee Department:

Question: “I was wondering if the K-Cups or the water heating chamber are made of a plastic which can leach BPA (Bisphenol A)? I don’t see a recycle number on them and was curious about this.”

Answer: “We do use a variety of plastics in our Brewers and some contain BPA. However, as you may be aware, the FDA recently reviewed its safety standards associated with BPA and has, again, affirmatively stated that products containing BPA currently on the market are safe. For more information on this recent FDA pronouncement, you may want to check out the following link: http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/bpa.html

(BPA is the acronym for Bispenol A – a common ingredient in many plastics used to handle food and water. It gets in the news every now and then because of fears it might be unsafe, contrary to the FDA’s findings.)

From what I've read, the water reservoir in Keurig machines (including the B70) is BPA-free also, but the machines are made with other plastic parts that may contain BPA. The Breville is reportedly not made with polycarbonates, but I don't know if that means for sure it's BPA-free.

The K-Cups should be fine. I don't know about the machines, but the water tanks are not heated, which should help...

We hope this clears up some confusion regarding K-Cups and some Keurig Machines.

Even though manufacture's change their manufacturing methods at times, during the time of writing this blog all above holds true.

OnTap along with FastBreak Beverages BPA free 5-Gallon water bottles are always filled with "Reverse Osmosis Water" at no extra charge along with "BPA free water bottles". Not sure what "Reverse Osmosis Water" or "BPA free water bottles" mean? Please see our descriptions in layman terms below.

"Reverse osmosis is a way to get small particles out of water by forcing it through a sheet of something (a membrane). The particles in the water are left on the other side of the sheet, while the water travels through it. This is best known as a process used for purifying salt water, but it can also be used to purify other substances "

"BPA or bisphenol A, is a synthetic chemical compoundused to make some plastics and resins that are used in manufacturing numerous products we use in our daily lives. Many plastic containers are suspect, from water bottles and baby bottles to food storage containers, toys, and some medical implements, but it is not only these items that are of concern. Things like liners in cans of food or baby formula are also potentially problematic.

BPA is said by some to also be an environmental contaminant, having been reported in water and sediment at various" levels. Many believe that even low-level exposure can be dangerous, as has been shown in some studies with animals. Some studies link BPA exposure to different types of cancers as well as other diseases and disorders. The threats of breast cancer, prostate cancer, diabetes, obesity, and miscarriage may be exacerbated by BPA exposure, and it may increase hyperactivity according to some studies.

I hope this clarifies the importance of BPA free along with the the best purifying measures to ensure clean safe water brought to you at no additional charge byOnTap.

Kao Japan is preparing to release the newest addition to their line of Healthya brand health drinks. In addition to their existing collection of waters and teas, things are getting a little more flavorful with fat-burning “Healthya Coffee.”

Healthya Coffee doesn’t use added “fat blockers” like Pepsi Special nor does it add fiber supplements like Mets Zero, two previously released colas that claim fat busting prowess. Rather, Kao has spent 10 years developing a technique to use the existing components of coffee to produce healthy effects.

First, the Healthya coffee beans are roasted two and a half times that of usual beans. This increases the amount of chlorogenic acid twofold (270mg per can). Kao claims that they observed a fat processing effect from this polyphenol.

To compensate for the extra roasting, Kao uses a “nanotrap” which reduces the oxides produced from roasting to one-fiftieth the amount of regular coffees. They say that this also creates a unique aftertaste.

In a 12-week trial the maker reported an average of 1.5 kg (3.3 lbs.) lost in a group of 109 obese men and women. By drinking one 185 mL can a day, 25 percent of the subjects reported weight loss after four weeks, 51 percent after eight weeks and 72 percent after 12 weeks.

On 27 March a press conference was held by the president of Kao Michitaka Sawada and Healthya spokesperson Patrick Harlan, one half of the comedy team Pakkun Makkun. At the conference President Sawada said:

“Currently about 50 percent of men suffer from metabolic syndrome. Action must be taken at an early stage for this. Coffee and tea are the world’s two most consumed beverages and drinks that business people come into contact with on a daily basis.

We encourage you to take the chance to reevaluate your lifestyle and substitute your regular coffee with Healthya Coffee.”

Healthya Coffee will be released across Japan on 4 April as the nation’s first “health coffee” and is expected to sell for 150 yen (US$1.60) per can. It will be available in two types; Sugar-Free Black and Sugar-Light with Milk.

Staplers may be old and lovably reliable, but ye olde water fountain is a'changing. If you've ever faced the frustration of not being able to fill your bottle of H20 to the top because you have to tilt it to align it with the stream, thereby causing water to run out, creating the most frustrating modern-day scenario since Sisyphus dealt with his infernal rock, there is a new fountain for you. As The Wall Street Journal's James R. Hagerty writes, executives at Elkay Manufacturing Co. are to thank.

These enterprising folks noticed that people carried around water bottles, and when they tried to refill those bottles, they enacted "the airport dance": "a sort of shuffle done by travelers trying to tilt bottles at the proper angle for refilling without splashing water on their shoes." Related issues: The old water fountains might be more likely to be considered germy (you know someone put his or her lips on the metal!), or tooth-breaking (what if you slip and fall?). No one liked that bending-over, hunched pose in which you feel like someone might push you or grab your pocketbook. And it seems you can never get enough to drink in the time you're there.

With those realizations, a new model of the old fountain was born, with other manufacturers following suit with their own versions of a fountain at which one can refill bottles easily. Elkay's creation, at right, dispenses 16 ounces of room-temperature water in 5 seconds, or 7 seconds for refrigerated water. That means it's even faster than the old 20-second model. You need only set a bottle down under the spigot and the flow is automatically turned on. Like magic, "The user needs to pull the bottle away in time to avoid an overflow. That action stops the flow. If a daydreamer fails to pull the bottle away, the water automatically switches off after 20 seconds." And it's possibly less germy, because the nozzle is behind a plastic protector. But despite the lack of germs, it has a viral aspect, per the Journal:

One of the most inspired features is a digital counter, showing how many bottles have been filled. "I thought that was a dumb idea," says Jack Krecek, who spearheaded the EZH2O project before leaving Elkay to run another company. But the counter ended up helping "make this thing go viral," he says. College students liked showing how green they were by tracking how many plastic bottles had been kept out of landfills. Some held intra-campus competitions to see who could reuse the most bottles.

Look for one near you. They're in at least 15 airports, writes Hagerty, including O'Hare and La Guardia. I used one at a gym in Seattle recently and, yes, there's no need to bend over in a crouched position only to find yourself unable to take in enough water to really quench your thirst. No need to keep looking behind you to see if someone else is waiting. Stand tall, put a bottle under the spout, fill 'er up, take the bottle out, and get on with your life.

It’s Monday and you’re tired. If one cup of coffee just doesn’t cut it, the world’s largest coffee cup is always an option.Standing 6.5 inches tall and 10 inches wide, the porcelain cup weighs a little over 10 pounds. For $36 on Amazon.com, Accoutrement’s cup holds 20 cups of coffee.“Of course, that’s only 19 cups if you leave room for cream,” the manufacturer’s description says.The company also sells a variety of gag wholesale gifts on its website, including bacon toothpaste and inflatable unicorn horns.Not a huge coffee drinker? One reviewer suggested using it for potted plants.

Preparation and Vows of Defiance as Big Sugary Drink Ban Is Set to Start

With one day to go before Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s ban on large sugary drinks goes into effect across the city, some big-drink lovers, and the places that serve them, vowed defiance. Others accepted it with a shrug. Then there were people like Leonardo Scarpone, the owner of Sanpanino, an Italian sandwich shop in Greenwich Village, who wondered if the small amount of sugar he added to his fresh-squeezed lemonade would push it into forbidden territory.

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Bebeto Matthews/Associated Press

A poster announcing the city’s ban on large sugary drinks, set to take effect Tuesday, is displayed in Penn Station.

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“I’m kind of worried about it,” he said. “It comes down to the inspector who’s doing the inspection, or the person who answers the question.”

JoAnn Mikulak, a waitress at the Manhattan Three Decker diner in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, said she intended to thoroughly enjoy the last few days of big soda before rules forbidding the sale of sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces begin Tuesday.

“I’m going to drink as many 20-ounce sodas as I can,” just to irritate Mr. Bloomberg, she said.

“If someone wants it, they’re going to get it,” said Irene Prois, Manhattan Three Decker’s manager, nodding in agreement. She mentioned her boyfriend as an example. “He doesn’t care. He’ll just get a double.”

Michael Jackson, 47, who was having lunch at the Gray’s Papaya in Greenwich Village, said there were few things dearer to his heart than a cold Sprite. “The big size, of course,” he specified on Sunday. “I’m a big guy.”

“I’ll buy a dozen of these,” said Mr. Jackson, 47, pointing to a regular cup. And as he saw it, there was no point in mourning the big sodas: “All I have to do is go to Jersey, or to 7-Eleven.” (The 7-Eleven convenience stores, like supermarkets, are regulated by the state and will still be allowed to sell the Big Gulp and other large drinks.)

At least for the next few months, Mr. Jackson may not have to change his routine. Restaurants, movie theaters, stadiums and cafes are preparing revamped menus and stocking smaller cups in compliance with the new regulations. But with a legal challenge to the new rules pending in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, and a three-month grace period to allow businesses to adjust, some owners are taking a wait-and-see approach in the hope that the beverage industry will win out. Starbucks, for instance, said last week that it was holding off on retraining its baristas and printing new menus.

At Russ Pizza in Greenpoint, the manager, Thomas Mulvena, 56, said he planned to keep his customers happy, the possible fines notwithstanding. Deliveries make up more than 75 percent of Russ’s business, and customers often order a 2-liter bottle of soda, or even two, with their pizza. Mr. Mulvena said he plans to take full advantage of the grace period, which ends June 12, by continuing to sell the 2-liter bottles. (City inspectors can issue violations without fines until then; violations incurred after carry a $200 penalty.)

“It might take us getting a ticket to really abide by it,” he said.

The Dallas BBQ chain has neither ordered new glasses nor altered its menus while the company awaits the outcome of the beverage industry’s lawsuit, according to Eric Levine, the chain’s director of operations. Changing the menus, glassware and software and retraining personnel could cost tens of thousands of dollars, he said.

The restaurant’s Texas drink size, its largest, is 20 ounces, and costs only 50 cents more than the smaller, 10-ounce sodas.

Other businesses have chosen not to test the city’s patience. Frames Bowling Lounge near Times Square, which sells soda to bowlers by the pitcher, will instead offer fresh fruit juices like carrot, beet and citrus-and-mint, a manager said. Pure fruit juices are left unaffected by the new regulations.

Cobble Hill Cinemas in Brooklyn has canceled its standing order of cups larger than 16 ounces, which will affect both soda servings (currently available up to 32 ounces) and those for its frozen Icees (24 ounces), said Brandon Serrano, a manager.

“I guess we’re just doing it,” he said. “I guess there’s no way of rebelling against the man.”

Todd Frizzell, a singer and one of Mr. Scarpone’s regulars, said he had reluctantly, though voluntarily, given up Sanpanino’s lemonade and other sweets for Lent. Lemonade is excellent for the voice, he added, but on matters of health, he trusted the trim Mr. Bloomberg.

“He knows!” Mr. Frizzell said, indicating his stomach. “If I could only look like him.”

Your Guide to New York’s Soda Ban

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s ban on large bottles of sugary drinks – including soda, bubble tea and more – will go into effect on Tuesday.

It has incited protests and lawsuits, inflamed public debate and inspired other cities to develop anti-soda tactics of their own. Dozens showed up at a Board of Health meeting in July to request changes to the proposal.

But for all the hand-wringing, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s much-derided ban on the sale of large sugary drinks, unveiled in May, will go into effect on Tuesday exactly as the city proposed.

The city argues that the measure, which forbids the sale of sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces in restaurants, movie theaters and other food-service establishments, will help combat the spread of obesity. But giant cups of soda are not the only beverages on the hit list.

Here is a Q. and A. on the ban:

Q.

How will it work?

A.

At its most basic — and there are plenty of complications — the new rules mean that food-service establishments in New York City will not be able to sell sodas and other sugary drinks in containers larger than 16 ounces. Customers may buy as many refills as they want.

Q.

What places are excluded?

A.

Large drink containers will still be available at convenience stores and grocery stores — in other words, places that are not regulated by the city’s health department. Places that receive regular health inspections from the city, including street vendors, bowling alleys and restaurants, will all have to abide by the ban. The convenience store 7-Eleven will not, so the Big Gulp will live on.

Q.

What drinks are covered?

A.

The new rules are known as the “soda ban,” but many other sugary drinks will be affected: fruit-juice drinks including lemonade, sports drinks like Gatorade, energy drinks, slushies, fruit smoothies, and coffee- and tea-based sweetened drinks. Bubble teas are affected, as are presweetened iced coffees and teas, and possibly even the famous papaya juice at the city’s hot-dog-and-fruit-juice outlets. Of course, there are a few caveats.

Q.

What caveats?

A.

For one, drinks that are more than 50 percent milk (or milk substitute) are exempt from the regulations because the city considers milk a valuable source of nutrition — especially compared with soda, which is considered to contain empty calories. Any establishment trying to preserve its drinks under the milk exception must prove its milk content. So far, Starbucks’s pumpkin spice lattes and machiattos are exempt; no word yet on Frappucinos.

Q.

What’s the definition of a sugary drink?

A.

The city defines it as a nonalcoholic beverage that is less than 50 percent milk and has been presweetened by the manufacturer or the vendor with sugar or another caloric sweetener, like high fructose corn syrup, honey or agave nectar. To qualify, the beverage must cross a certain caloric threshold: 25 calories per 8 ounces.

Q.

What else isn’t affected?

A.

Milkshakes and lattes are safe, because of the milk exception; so are drinks that fall under the caloric threshold, like diet sodas. Fruit smoothies and juices that contain only fruit and fruit juice, with no added sweeteners, are also exempt.

Q.

What about beer growlers?

A.

Alcoholic beverages are safe, no matter the size. But that does not mean alcohol drinkers will be completely unaffected: because nightclubs are subject to the regulations, those who can afford bottle service will find that the carafes of sweet mixers like tonic and cranberry juice can no longer be served alongside the Grey Goose.

Q.

What about coffee?

A.

Plain old coffee can be sold in any size as long as it is not presweetened. Baristas can add around three to five teaspoons of sugar to larger cups of coffee before handing them to the customer, depending on the size. After that, customers can add as much sugar as they want. Different coffee shops are approaching the rules in different ways; some chains, like Dunkin’ Donuts and McDonald’s, will ask customers to add their own sugar and flavored syrups.

Q.

Are there any less obvious effects?

A.

Domino’s and other pizza joints will no longer be able to offer the two-liter bottles of soda that are a staple of children’s birthday parties and pizza dinners. Nor will they be able to deliver large soda containers. (But two-liter containers can still be bought at grocery stores.)

Q.

How will the ban be enforced?

A.

Health inspectors can issue violations carrying fines of $200. But the city will not start levying fines until June, after a three-month grace period to allow vendors to adjust to the new rules.

Q.

Is it permanent?

A.

That remains to be seen. The beverage industry has filed a lawsuit over the legality of the mayor’s ban, but the court has not yet ruled. And with a new mayor replacing Mr. Bloomberg in January, the ban’s future is even more uncertain.

This building block mug from ThinkGeek allows you to spice up your morning coffee.

This mug is the perfect mug for the young or the young at heart. Whether you want to add a little more flair and personality to your office space or you have a child who can't stop playing -- this customizable mug is perfect!

Combatable with most types of building block toys such as Lego, Pixelblocks and Mega Bloks, the mug will fit perfectly with your collection at home.

You can only imagine some of the creations people can create with this mug as a catalyst. I can already picture a robotic system of Lego that brews the coffee and delivers the steaming mug via a building block vehicle.

This ingenious heat-sensitive mug design could mean that you never scald yourself with hot coffee again.

The concept is incredibly simple. When a beverage is too hot, the lid of the heat-sensitive mug will expand and touch the user’s nose if they try to drink the scorching hot beverage. At that point, it’s your own fault for ignoring the warning if you scald your mouth. Once the temperature drops to a more manageable 60 degrees Celsius, the lid begins to return to its normal size. The lid expands to full size at 80 degrees Celsius and above.

The design comes from designers Yang Dongyun, Wu Yichen, Sang Xinxin, Gu Zhiyu and Lin Xia and the heat-sensitive mug took home a Red Dot Award for design excellence.

A high intake of coffee can lead to smaller babies or even a longer pregnancy. And it's not just coffee you should watch

This week more evidence was published showing that caffeine can reduce the birth weight of babies. Photograph: Nicolas Hansen/Getty Images

If you are pregnant there is so much you are advised not to do. You can't eat blue cheese, drink more than a sip of alcohol, or empty the cat litter tray. But perhaps worst of all, you should limit your coffee intake.

The UK Food Standards Agency-recommended daily dose of caffeine inpregnancy is 200mg, which equates to two cups of instant coffee, two mugs of tea (75mg each), six cans of Coca-Cola (32mg each) or four 50g bars of chocolate. A coffee from a cafe may be stronger: it could contain more than 200mg caffeine if it is made by a barista.

This week more evidence was published, from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (more than 59,000 pregnant women have taken part in the research over 10 years), that caffeine reduces the birth weight of babies and increases the risk of having a smaller baby. Babies with lower birth weights have an increased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease in adulthood.

The Norwegian researchers looked at all the sources of caffeine ingested by the pregnant women, including coffee, tea and fizzy drinks, along with cakes and desserts containing cocoa (which has lots of caffeine).

They took account of the effects of various characteristics of the women – whether they smoked, for example – and didn't include anyone with a serious medical condition. They found, unexpectedly, that coffee (but not caffeine from other sources) seemed to very slightly increase the length of pregnancy – by eight hours for those who drank 100mg of caffeine (from coffee) a day. So if caffeine may make your baby weigh less and even take a few hours longer to arrive, should you ditch it altogether?

The solution

Some previous studies have shown (although by no means unanimously) that women whose caffeine intake was more than 300mg a day have a higher risk of giving birth to lighter babies (100-200g lower than those of women who don't have much caffeine). This study finds an effect at 200mg a day.

Caffeine takes longer to be broken down in the body during pregnancy and it reaches the baby through the placenta. The developing baby is not great at processing caffeine and it can increase the baby's levels of stress hormones.

This latest study found that babies of women whose caffeine intake was 100mg a day had birth weights of 21 to 28g less than babies of women who didn't have as much.

These effects are not that big and no one should worry if they have had more caffeine than the guidelines recommend. But since caffeine does not benefit your baby and you can switch to decaff anyway, you might choose to lay off the stuff for nine months.

HAS SOMEONE BUILT THE FIRST AMAZING MICROWAVE ESPRESSO MAKER? POSSIBLY.

Brewing world-class coffee is fairly inexpensive. All you need is a grinder and a kettle and some sort of combination of a funnel and filter. Good espresso ups the ante by about tenfold. You need pressure. Pressure is expensive, it’s counter-suckingly bulky and still requires a level of finesse to pull a perfect shot. Since the 1930s, the solution has been the moka pot, but a moka pot needs a stove.

The Piamo Espresso Maker, designed by Christoph and Hendrik Meyl, along with Lunar, is an elegant, microwaveable entry in the world of at-home espresso. It’s essentially a microwaveable moka pot, inverted. You pour water in a reservoir up top and fill grounds in the middle. Then you set the microwave for 30 seconds. Steam pressure builds in the reservoir, pushing water through the grounds into a cup. You’re done.

"Any metal part in a microwave acts as an antenna. It needs to be designed in a way that its geometry is soft, rounded, and doesn’t have any pointy, sharp areas that create problems with the electrical fields that would result in the well-known sparks," Gebhard explains. "Furthermore, these metal parts need to be designed in a way that they are aligned with the standardized microwave wavelength and frequency."

Coupled with that espresso cup, which was actually built of ABS plastic to reinforce the metal’s shielding (better than ceramic would), the espresso grounds are kept safe from overheating. Ironically, moka pots are often chided for burning espresso before the water pressure mixes with the beans. Piamo’s design team may have solved this age-old problem despite the indiscriminate science of microwaves.

But before the snobs call me on this, it is worth noting that moka pots may not be the ultimate standard of espresso. Coffee consensus agrees that you need 8.8 bars (atmospheres) of pressure to pull an ideal shot. Moka pots, and the Piamo, both generate about 1.5 bars. So will the Piamo prove to be a replacement for your four-figure counter beast, brandishing a name that could be mistaken for an Italian sports car? Probably not. But could the Piamo be the all-around most convenient way ever to make a drinkable shot of super strong coffee at the inlaws’? Absolutely.

The Piamo is available for pre-order now. It’s $55 on the German equivalent of Kickstarter.

India-based Tata Coffee plans to relaunch its Eight O’Clock Coffee (EOC) brand in the U.S. and Canadian markets. The company has also announced plans to introduce single-serve coffees in a collaboration with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, as well as ramp up instant coffee production at its two manufacturing facilities by 30 percent, to approximately 8,400 tons, by April 2014.

Tata began processing and roasting beans for Starbucks locations in India and other new markets last summer, while also announcing a multiyear agreement with GMCR to rebrand EOC, as well as the Tetley and Good Earth Tea brands. In 2006, Tata acquired EOC from Gryphon Investors for $220 million.

Tata says it produces 19 varieties of shade-grown robusta and arabica varieties grown in nearly 20 estates throughout India, a country that has struggled over the past decades to shed its reputation as a low-quality-arabica producer.